Led by the non-profit Central Park Conservancy, the north end of NYC’s most famous public space will undergo a $150-million renovation that will include a new ice rink, reworked hydrology and a brand-new public pool.
The pool, ice rink and surrounding landscape are part of a new recreational facility located adjacent to the Harlem Meer, an 11-acre body of water that dominates the northern section of the park. (“Meer” is Dutch for lake.). According to design team leader Christopher J. Nolan, the project will improve the landscape and ecology and restore long-ignored connections within the space, famously designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.
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“With our partners at NYC Parks, I’m thrilled to offer the public a design that achieves one of the Conservancy’s highest goals: connecting recreational activities with the restorative and uplifting experience that is the essence of Central Park,” says conservancy president and CEO Elizabeth W. Smith. “This sensitive and inventive design will give New Yorkers the greatly improved amenity they deserve, while returning to them the free and open use of one of the most scenic areas in the Park.”
Smith goes on to report that since the Conservancy was established in 1980, “we have invested more than one billion dollars in the Park and have restored, renewed and preserved virtually every corner of this urban treasure. I am enormously proud that we’re capping the 40-year makeover with this wonderful, impactful project.”
The pool will be elegantly shaped in an elongated oval and surrounded by generous deck areas, splash pads and shade structures. Amenities will include bathroom and changing facilities built into the sloping landscape, covered with a green roof.
